I’m again having to have some words about not making false statements or not leaving out information on Australian visa applications, and the dire consequences of being caught by Public Interest Criteria 4020 (PIC 4020) in the Migration Regulations. I’ve done lots of BLOG posts about it, but the need keeps coming up.

Just this week at Down Under Visa we had an applicant leave all their siblings off the Questionnaire, and therefore we prepared the visa application form with no mention of them. Fortunately we had done a previous application for him 5 years before and of course still had records. I checked, and there they were. The day was saved, however it could have been problematic.

Yet last week we did have a too-late situation where an application for a partner visa was lodged with some omissions. I won’t mention names, of course. The applicants will recognize themselves if they read this article, but no one else will. I do this not to “rub it in”, but to hopefully prevent this happening to someone else. Two of her four kids were left off the application, and the Australian Embassy in Manila found them through their usual scrupulous checking procedures. This meant they had made a false statement, and they were asked to explain themselves. They have chosen to withdraw the application, which will at least prevent them from a refusal and a 3 year ban from making a further visa application.

Were they “bad guys” trying to defraud the system? No, not at all. It was a careless omission, but that meant they had made a false statement. The visa applicant was required to list all of her children, and she didn’t. That means a false statement.

Leave out some important details, and the same thing can and will happen to you! So please check and double-check the information you give us, and do the same thing with the application forms at the end. Everyone gets ample opportunity to check forms before we submit the final visa application, and we always warn applicants to be careful. Yet we still get a few slipping through. And yes, it really upsets us. We want to see 100% of you across the finish line!

Visa for Christmas

And one more reminder about tourist visas in time for Christmas. It’s 20 November. We are on holidays in less than a month. And the fact that everyone knows how hard it is to book flights at this time of the year should give you a very good indication about tourist visa applications at this time. Everyone wants to fly at Christmas. Every couple wants to be together at Christmas. That means it’s not the time to leave an application to the last minute and assume it will be easy.

Yet we are still getting the “I’d like to have her here for Christmas” requests.

If you want us to try, we will try. But please be aware that it’s becoming increasingly unlikely. And that means we will say “I told you so!” right now in advance so we don’t get emails from anyone who is overcome with emotion and looking for someone to take it out on.

Consider a trip over here if you can. Christmas and New Years in the Philippines is a wonderful time, and you don’t need to wait for visas in order to experience it.